I've looked at Asperger's in the DSM-IV a few times (bearing in mind some people here don't see it as very accurate) and can easily fit the criteria, until I get to...

Okay, so as I understand it, if I want to do a self-diagnosis based on the DSM-IV, I need to rule out:

- Schizophrenia
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
- Schizoid Personality Disorder
- PDD-NOS
- anything else?

(all these as defined in DSM-IV, even though OCD is often described as a co-morbid to AS)

It's that PDD-NOS that confuses me.  Is that a catch-all for anything that doesn't easily fit the other conditions listed above?  Is this one item in the DSM-IV or is it several?

ADD/ADHD, Obsessive & Avoidant Personality Disorder, Schizotypal Personality Disorder, Tourette's (many with ASD  have tics also), Bipolar, Borderline Personality Disorder (since the identiy disturbance makes people prone to "identifying" with other disorders)... I'm sure there's more.

PDD-NOS has nothing to do with the other disorders you listed, PDD-NOS means you're on the autistic spectrum but don't fit the AS or Autism, Rett or Disintegrative diagnosis.

I've read several sources that say all of those in the bold print can be comorbid to Asperger's.  Personally I have the first two on the list, with little doubt, and I have seen countless posters on AFF claim to have ADD with AS or Bipolar with AS... so I don't see why you'd have to "rule these out" first.

*Can* is one thing but in many cases they explain a person's symptoms and thus should be regarded as the sole/main diagnosis. Also as I pointed out, according to DSM-IV you cannot diagnose AS and ADD together (because the exclusion criteria for ADD include all pervasive developmental disorders*) so unless you are diagnosing according to ICD-10 ADD must be excluded also.

(It always depends which tools a diagnostician uses - both ADD and Tourette's can't be combined with AS and other autism spectrum disorders if diagnosing using the DSM-IV)

*    Exclusion Criteria for ADD: "The symptoms do not occur exclusively during the course of a pervasive developmental disorder, schizophrenia, or other psychotic disorder and are not better accounted for by another mental disorder (e.g., mood disorder, anxiety disorder, dissociative disorder, or a personality disorder)"

ADD and Avoidant Personality Disorder explain my symptoms almost perfectly, but I am still 100% positive I have Asperger's.

What now?

That depends on how big this "almost" is I guess! If it's a big gap then these two explanations aren't enough, it it's a small one then it's likely these are what you have. (Personally I think your ADD symptoms are more down to rapid-cycling Bipolar than ADD, this also explains your psychosis and moodswings)

PS: Could well be that you have ADD and rapid-cycling Bipolar or at least traits of both, though. Both of these plus a dash of Tourette's seem to fit you well (with or without AS), and would explain your "AS-atypical" traits quite well.

In the book I started a thread about in the News Section, the type that fit you best was Tourette's (mild, and tics often abate in your early Twenties) with its "unusual creativity", "emotional and temperamental reactivity", and "imitiation of others' actions or words" (which you said you used to do a lot) mixed with either Bipolar and/or ADD.

All of those are also known for social skills problems, sensory integration problems and other AS-typical things, so it's hard to say whether AS plays a part.

The difference between Aspergers and PDD-NOS can amount to no more than who is doing the diagnosis.  Insurance companies code both the same.

This is a great Thread garmonbozia... Plan to share it with my Doc...

What do you suppose he'll say when I suggest a different definition for ADD / PDD / AS...   as in "ASD" --Attention Surplus Disorder-- a new one for the books apt to confuse...

Thanks for the thread...     Beammeup

THis is a very competent discussion of the differential diagnosis of AS: http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/reprint/7/4/310

Mind you this line had me rolling on the floor: "exhibited behavioural difficulties including aggression and being victims of bullying"

So being a victim of bullying is a behavioural difficulty now? Um... Well I guess so being beaten up is unusual

In your next message you might as well tell me to leave AFF because I lack convincing evidence that I have Asperger's.  Goddamn it.  Why do I even bother anymore?

I just f****g said I was 100% certain I have Asperger's.  My inflexible and repetitive routines and lack of theory of mind/empathy and preference for sameness and obsessive interests (more cyclical these days tho) and pedantic/unusually formal speech make it clear to me.

And it's fully clear to me that ADD and Avoidant Personality don't explain everything, as I have never been able to understand properly or use advice therapists have used for NT/ADD patients (none of my therapists saw AS in me so their advice was NT/ADD advice, and it never "sunk in.")  Alright?

I don't have f*****g Tourette's either.  People with AS also have tics, or so countless posters on AFF have shown.  Just because I don't rock or don't flap my hands doesn't mean I don't have AS.

Mind you this line had me rolling on the floor: "exhibited behavioural difficulties including aggression and being victims of bullying"

So being a victim of bullying is a behavioural difficulty now? Um... Well I guess so being beaten up is unusual

I intend to bully anyone who places me into a category I don't agree with, like Tourette's/ADD without Asperger's.  Point me to a combined type Tourette's/ADD forum ("I'm sure they exist") then, and I'll go there and leave this place behind for good.  I'm here for a f****g reason, and that does not include insinuations by others that "I don't fit."

[quote=Batman55]In your next message you might as well tell me to leave AFF because I lack convincing evidence that I have Asperger's.  Goddamn it.  Why do I even bother anymore?[/b]
This thread isn't about you, why don't you keep your constant demands for appraisal and confirmation to your own threads instead?

That's a classic! I know coprolalia isn't as common as people think but that's just hilarious!